Things are getting worse

Is it possible to live in a world without wars, execution fields, torture chambers and dreadful prisons?

Is it possible to have a world free of exploitation of human by human, colonization, hunger and disease?

Is it possible to live in a world without superstition and corruption, lies and falsification, trickery and hypocrisy, drugs, gangs and sex-slavery networks?

Is it achievable to have a world empty of Weapons of Mass Destruction, atomic bomb intimidation, and artificially made profitable diseases and disasters?

Is it achievable to have a cleaner, less polluted planet with less severe more controllable natural disasters?

And finally, is it possible to live a prosperous and peaceful life, if we could work hard, be God-fearing, piously charitable and generous citizens of this planet?

As we will see not only the answers are negative, but things are getting worse under this dominant economic system called capitalism!

To get to the point let us have some examples: first we begin with the most vulnerable human-beings or the children.

On October 7, 2004, a report by UNICEF announced that, “about ten million children are dying each year in Africa due to preventable causes. The condition of children has worsened since ten years ago.” (News Agencies).

In a report by BBC news, we see that, “in every 27 seconds a child dies from malaria (which is preventable) in Africa and those who survive may have permanent brain damage.” (Oct. 15th, 2004). One year later ABC news reported that, every day about 2000, children are dying from malaria in the world. (Oct. 31st, 2005).

Again UNICEF reported that, “more than half of all children or more than one billion children in the world suffer from extreme deprivation: hunger, disease, lack of education, shelter,…and it is worsening continuously.” (News Agencies, Dec. 9th, 2004).

In Canada, which is a rich industrialized country, “one of every six children lives under the poverty line. Child poverty has increased in recent years.” (Report from Campaign 2000 Coalition, narrated by CBC News, Nov. 24th, 2004).

Secondly, referring to the whole population, it is worthy to mention that, “more than ten million people are dying from AIDS and starvation, right now in sub-Saharan Africa and it is worsening.” (News Agencies, Oct. 7th, 2005).

In the U.S. “in year 2000, there were 31.1 million people officially classified as poor. In 2004 the number of poor people was 37 million, up 12.7%, from four years ago.” (News Agencies, Aug. 30th, 2005).

A report by BBC news says, “50% of Republic of Georgia’s population live under the poverty line (June 29th, 2005). And in Russia one-fourth of the population are classified as poor. (CTV News, Oct. 30th, 2005).

In Poland unemployment rate is about 20%, and there is no hope to ease. (News Agencies, June 23rd, 2005). In the same country, coal-miners who were laid-off, jump over the running trains, filch coals and throw them on the surrounding fields, where their waiting companions collect and sell them later in the markets to feed their hungry families. More than half of the coal-miners were laid-off since the collapse of ex-socialist regime. (A Documentary by BBC News, Aug. 24th, 2005).

Thirdly, on the workers’ subject, it is interesting to know that the number of unionized workers (the workers whom to some extent can defend their rights through the collective agreements), has decreased continuously all around the world, leaving them totally unprotected against capitalist exploitation. For instance, according to the U.S. government statistics, 12.5% of all U.S. workers and 8% of private sector workers are union members. In the 1950s and 1960s about a third of all workers were unionized. (BBC News, July 25th, 2005).

While in the previous decades, workers struggled to increase their salaries and benefits, nowadays they fight to keep their jobs and prevent their salary and benefit cuts.

As BBC reports, U.S. Airways asked for labour cuts to prevent bankruptcy. (Dec 30th, 2004). And Bombardier a Montreal-Canada based, mostly aircraft-maker, announced that it must cut wages or lay-off 3000 workers. (CBC News, May 7th, 2003).

Recently on Monday October 17th, 2005, General Motors, the world’s biggest car-maker, signed an initial agreement with the United Auto Workers union to reduce its costly healthcare expenses. This agreement will affect about 750,000 retirees, current worker and their dependents in the U.S.. This move will be replicated by other car-maker companies like Ford, DaimlerChrysler and so on. (News Agencies). What an amazing solution! But a wise and pro-people solution is the nationalization of these companies. As a result, we will have a secure life for workers and their families, and if it follows by the creation of a universal public transport system, there will be at least less pollution, less monster hurricanes, less lung cancer, less osteoporosis etc, etc. In the case of costly healthcare, again a wise and humane solution is to implement a universal public healthcare; as a result none will fear an illness.

Fourthly, looking at the global situation, “a U.N. report has found that the world is more unequal today than it was ten years ago,… Liberalization of economy does not help the poor.” (BBC News. Aug. 25th, 2005).

A statement by U.N. Human Development Report 2005, says, “Many of the world’s poorest countries are doing worse in 2005, than they were fifteen years ago, the gap between rich and poor peoples in each individual country is widening, and inequalities are increasing.” (News Agencies. Sept. 7th, 2005).

But not all statistics are about the failure of capitalism. As ABC News broadcasted, “440 million sites of pornography are on the net.” (July 27th, 2005). And these sites are increasing in number by hours and minutes; suppose that if only one person works on each site, capitalism can claim, that it has finally “solved” the problem of unemployment.

In another report, we hear that a sex slavery network is discovered in the U.K. Each year at least 1400 women, mostly East Europeans are brought to this country to work in this growing industry. (News Agencies, Oct. 2nd, 2005). Another sign of booming capitalism!

Not irrelevant to the previous subject, we read that: in a court in France, it was revealed that children are sold to the rings of pedophiles for a small amount of money or even for only a cigarette. (BBC News. July 27th, 2005). These things are happening in the middle of Europe, in France, in the turn of the 21st century. In the middle of a newly forming imperialist power called E.U.

What more can we expect from this final stage of capitalism: imperialism?

Every human has only one chance to live, and this life turns miserable because of exploitation of man by man and through the plunder of natural resources of the planet which belong to everyone and their future generations.

To end this vicious cycle of catastrophes, people have to come together and organize. The first target of the governments rising from these new-type organizations must be the nationalization of big companies with the preference to those which are urgently vital for the well-being of the people.

This is only the first step towards building a humane society, and each step will have to be carried out by democratically elected bodies, as long as democratic means are possible!